Table 1

Within-subject design

Source, yearCountryPopulation studiedSample sizeTime of assessmentsMethods of measurementConclusion
Smith et al, 2009
(Part 1)17		USAProspective, longitudinal study on QoL in patients before and after kidney transplant33Baseline, 6 and 12 months

  • Interviews

  • QoL rating scale

  • Measurement of physical and mental health functioning

An improvement of QoL after transplantation was predicted and indeed occurred yet mean predicted QoL after 12 months was 8.5 points higher (scale: 0–100) than actual QoL.
Damsgaard et al, 201618DenmarkWithin-subject design studying the effect of spinal surgery on QoL in case of chronic backpain10

  1. 2–3 days after surgery

  2. 2 months after surgery

Semistructured interviews and observationsDespite most patients being largely pain-free after surgery; sadness returned in several patients.
Lee et al, 201819USAProspective cohort survey study on the accuracy of predicted well-being of patients undergoing mastectomy with, or without immediate breast reconstruction96Baseline and 6, 12 and 18 months after surgerySurveys based on:

  • Cantril Ladder for happiness

  • Breast-Q

  • Satisfaction with Decisions and Decision Regret Scale

  • For QoL numeric rating scale of 0–100

Women scheduled for mastectomy without reconstruction (n=54) predicted an 8.6 point decrease in overall QoL after surgery. Their actual QoL after surgery was on average 6 points (scale 0–100) higher than predicted.
In women scheduled for mastectomy with reconstruction (n=42), actual QoL was significantly lower than predicted in the domains ‘satisfaction with breasts’ (0.5 point (scale 1–4)], ‘sexual attractiveness clothed’ (0.4 point (scale: 1–5)) and ‘sexual attractiveness unclothed’(1 point (scale: 1–5))

  • QoL, quality of life.